Predator: A Matter of Honour
by Silencer39
Summary: For eons the proud Yautja have lived for one singular purpose, to prove themselves as the greatest warriors the universe has ever known. But when one lone hunter witnesses the worst humanity has to offer will he rise to something greater? Will he become the hero we need or remain the predator, forever stalking its prey?
1. Chapter 1 - Shattered Honour

**Chapter 1: Shattered Honour**

"Hey dad, what's honour?"

"Honour? Why do you want to know about that kiddo?" The boy's father asked as he poured himself a steaming cup of coffee. Taking a long drink the older man sighed contently. Supplies, like his son's favourite cereal, were sometimes hard to come by out in the fringe colonies but there always seemed to be plenty of coffee to go around.

"Well Mrs. Kowalski mentioned it yesterday during class. But I didn't really understand her explanation. Then I tried looking it up myself… I think that only made it worse" the boy responded sheepishly as he took another bite of cereal.

"Hmmm, well kiddo let's see… Honour doesn't really have a single definition, it varies from person to person" the boy's father said taking a seat at the kitchen table beside his son. Seeing the confused look on the nine year old's face the older man tried again. "Ok how about this? Honour is a person's idea of what is honest and fair and the integrity that a person puts into their beliefs and actions… Does that help?" The man asked uncertainly.

"Not really dad" the boy giggled at the uncertain look on his father's face.

"Well that's why I'm colonial security and not a linguist kiddo" the man chuckled ruffling his son's sandy brown hair. After a few moments of easy silence between the two the older man looked up from his cup of coffee and glanced at his son who was now drinking the last bit of milk from his bowl. "How about I try one last time?" The man grinned at the milk moustache his son now sported. Getting a small nod from his son the man grinned before taking a second to compose his thoughts. "So honour is what a person believes is respectable, when they're doing something honorable it's because, to them, it's the right thing to do. That's kinda why it's so hard to explain because what someone might see as honourable another person might not… So how was that?" The man asked.

"Hmmm… Nope, still don't get it" the boy laughed as he put his empty bowl and spoon into the dishwasher.

"Alright you little rascal get your arse moving and get your teeth brushed" the boy's father laughed giving him a playful nudge. "And don't forget to make your bed!" The father called after the boy as he left the room. Leaning back in his chair the man drained the last of his coffee as he mentally prepped for the rest of his day. He had been slotted for monitoring duty for the next ten solar rotations and while the job itself was easy it was also incredibly boring.

Tellar's Prospect was just a tiny mining colony on the very edge of Colonial Space and while the planet was incredibly rich with rare and expensive minerals it was also so far out of the way that nothing of interest ever really happened. "God I hope something interesting happens today, I don't even care what" the man sighed getting up to refill his mug.

Just as he put the mug into the coffee machine a shrill beep echoed from his hip. Looking down in confusion at the short wave communicator, the man reached down before popping the device into his ear. "Hey this is Terry, what's up?" Terry asked cautiously, these communicators were only supposed to be used in case of an emergency and the security officer seriously doubted that anything of the sort could be happening way out here.

"Hey Terry, it's Mich look I know you don't start for another hour but can you grab your gear and head into the station?" The gravelly voice was definitely Mich but what could possibly be so important as to use the emergency lines?

"Sure thing Mich but what's going on?" Terry asked as made his way to his office. The man could just hear the sound of his son milling about in his bedroom as he passed by it.

"Ship just dropped out of lightspeed way too close for comfort, Gavin tried hailing them to give them an earful but he's gotten no response" Mich replied on the other end as Terry opened up his weapon's locker.

"Maybe they're all still asleep, what's the ship's designation?" Terry questioned while he slipped his harness over his shoulders.

"That's the thing that's got me worried man, scans show it's designated as the USS-Cubic, one of the Colonial Marines warships, but the database says that ship went missing… Uh just a sec. Hey Gav how long does it say it's been gone for!?... Yeah Gav says over three years now" Mich said over the sound of alarms going off in the background.

"Shit, ok… Tell the others to suit up and prep for anything, I'll be there in ten minutes max ok?" Terry asked clipping his belt together with a satisfying click.

"Sure thing Terry but hurry if you can, I got a bad feeling about this… Hey tell Tommy I said hi will ya?" Mich asked, the small waver in his voice giving Terry and idea of how just nervous the man truly was.

"Will do, just keep a level head got it?" Terry stated before clicking the communicator off. "Fuck" the man sighed leaning his back against the weapon's locker.

"That's a dollar for the swear jar!" Tommy giggled as he made his way into his father's office.

Glancing down at his son's smiling face also brought one to the security officer's. "It sure is kiddo" Terry chuckled hoisting up his son into his arms. "Was just talking to Mich, remember the man I told you about from work?" Terry asked while Tommy fiddled with one of the straps on his father's weapon's harness.

"Didn't you say he was the fat one that got chip crumbs everywhere?" Tommy asked, scrunching his face in concentration trying to remember the people his dad worked with.

"What!? No, no, no that's Leo… Also don't mention that around him ok kiddo? Let's keep that between us" Terry chuckled as he grabbed his M41A Pulse Rifle from the weapon's locker, carrying it in one arm and his son in the other. "No Mich is the one I said sounded like he's constantly gargling marbles… Well anyways he says hi" Terry chuckled nudging open his son's bedroom door with his foot. Placing his son down on the bed Terry leaned down so he was face to face with his kid.

"Alright Tommy, daddy needs to head into work a little early ok?" Terry said ruffling his son's hair absentmindedly.

"So you're not going to walk me to school today?" Tommy asked putting on the best puppy dog look he could muster. Those usually worked on his dad even when he was in a really grumpy mood.

"Well I got good news for you kiddo, you're getting the day off!" Terry exclaimed putting on his best smile to mask the growing sense of unease in the pit of his stomach.

"Wow really!? Sweet does that mean I can go to the park?" Tommy asked excitedly bouncing up and down in his bed.

"You sure can but only once I get back, once I take care of the thing Mich called me in for I'll be right back and we can spend some time at the park, how about that?" Terry asked smiling at his son's exuberant attitude.

"That's awesome dad!" The kid exclaimed standing up on his bed before jumping up and down excitedly.

"Perfect, but there is one thing I need you to do for me ok? I just need you to stay in your room until I get back, ok?" Terry asked standing up so he was now somewhat level with his still bouncing son.

"Sure thing dad!" Tommy exclaimed excitedly, this was turning into the best day ever for him.

"Atta boy, now I got to go, you take care and I'll be right back" Terry leaned forward planting a small kiss to his son's forehead. Closing the door behind him Terry let out a long sigh as he fixed his pulse rifle to the back of his harness. That uneasy feeling in his gut refused to go away, he could only hope that this whole situation would blow over quickly.

* * *

Fire and death, that was all that could be seen by the towering figure as he strode purposefully through the flames and bodies. Surveying the ruined colony brought a series of angered clicks to the mysterious figure. " _Too late again…"_ The figure thought to himself as he strode into the light of the raging fires around him, revealing the emotionless metal mask that obscured his facial features.

At over seven feet tall the Yautja would cut an imposing figure anywhere, but amongst the bodies of the butchered colonists he looked like something straight out of a nightmare. The Yautja's torso and legs were covered in a traditional net mesh that hugged the muscular hunter's body but still revealed his mottled brown and olive skin tones. Covering his shins, shoulders and left pectoral muscle was stark grey metal armour, worn from decades of fierce battles and glorious hunts. Upon each forearm the hunter bore a sophisticated pair of gauntlets that flickered dangerously in the fire.

Around his waist was a light brown loin cloth held in place with a belt adorned with serrated talons and a metal codpiece that stretched halfway down his muscular thigh. The hunter always snorted at the thought of the codpiece, given to him by his late father he would always remember the day it had been bestowed upon him.

 _"Wear it well Hanta, this is one piece of armour you should always have on you regardless of the situation"_ his father had told him as he handed a young Hanta the battle scarred armour.

 _"Isn't it a little large father?"_ He had asked as he accepted the gift with a furrowed brow.

The throaty laugh that emanated from his father after that would resonate with him for the rest of his days. _"True it is a little larger than what you are use to but it also gives the females an idea of just how much there is to protect"_ his father chuckled throatily, clapping his only son on the back playfully. His father had been a monstrously imposing being and the simple action of a playful slap on the back had almost buckled the Young Blood's knees from the force of the impact alone.

As fond memories of his late father ran through his mind the hunter ran a muscular hand over his bio-mask solemnly. He had born the mask ever since he was an Un-Blooded. Now marred by years of battle the solemn hunter wore the mask with an overwhelming sense of pride. The gouges from claws and the dents from bullets were badges of honour and testaments to those he had faced that had been worthy enough to push the hunter to his limits.

A soft clicking emanated from towering figure as he continued his trek through the carnage of the ruined colony. Under normal circumstances he would have cloaked to conceal himself from prying eyes but that was unnecessary, there was no one left to see him, there never was. Sweeping his head from left to right the Yautja snarled in annoyance, all this fire was interfering with his infrared vision making seeing clearly an impossible chore. Taking a second to cycle through vision modes until he found something more suitable, the hunter took the time to really look at his surroundings. Looking around the Yautja could now clearly see the bodies strewn about in the streets forcing a vicious snarl from the imposing alien.

Bending down to inspect one of the victims the soft clicking only grew louder as he inspected the dead man. " _This human was old, far too old to fight back. One who has lived as long as they have should be venerated as an elder not butchered like a rodent!_ " True to Hanta's thoughts the elderly human had been mercilessly cut down, his knees had been shot out from under him and he bore a grizzly knife wound starting from the man's left shoulder to his right hip. It was a sloppy kill and the man no doubt suffered greatly before his body inevitably expired.

Closing the dead man's eyes the hunter had to take a deep breath to let his anger abate. It was a human custom to close the eyes of their deceased and while the reason escaped the Yautja he had learned to respect the customs of other races. Leaving the body behind to be consumed by the steadily spreading fire the hunter continued on through the ruins of the colony.

Looking up the hunter spotted a sign emblazoned with the words that he couldn't quite make out. Swapping through the vision modes took a few seconds but he eventually settled on one that gave him a better view of the billboard. " _Tellar's Prospect where the future is ours for the taking…_ " Looking around at the carnage surrounding him, Hanta had trouble stifling a macabre laugh. These humans had not taken hold of their futures, they had them snatched away.

Sighing to himself the hunter ran a hand through his long dreadlocks and continued onwards. The Elders had always told them that the humans were lesser beings who long ago discarded all sense of honour in favour of their own unnatural technological progression. The words resonated with many of the clans, after all, the 'growing scourge' that was the humans had achieved technological advancement that would have taken most other races ten times as long to accomplish. But to the lone hunter he saw it differently, such aggressive expansion and advancement were signs of intelligence and ingenuity, traits that made for excellent prey.

So while most clans abandoned the prospect of hunting the humans, leaving them to their own self-destructive devices, the lone hunter as well as a select few had banded together and, against the Elder's wishes, continued the hunts. The results were some of the most thrilling and challenging hunts of his long life. So engrossed had he been in the humans at the time that he actually went as far as to study them and their lives, knowing one's prey was the most important aspect of a hunt and there was much to learn from the humans. He had even gone as far as to learn various human languages and while none of them were suited for the vocal cords of a Yautja the knowledge still proved to be invaluable.

That had been years ago and now here he stood alone, detached from his clan, his brethren and those that had originally stood by his side. Now he stood alone amongst the ruins of a destroyed human colony filled with a deep sense of sadness. In truth he didn't even understand why he touched down on this planet in the first place, he knew what he would find long before he entered the system, he had seen it far too many times before.

Ignoring the intense heat of the burning colony around him was easy but it didn't matter where Hanta looked, he only saw more bodies. Men, woman and children cut down in droves, the bodies of their men didn't faze him, the Yautja could see many of them had been armed and looked to have put up a fight before their untimely death. They had died defending their clan and those who could not fight. " _A respectable death one most of us could only wish to live up to._ "

It was the state of the women and children that was gnawing at the back of the Yautja's mind. The females of his own race had proven time and time again that they were exceptional warriors not to be trifled with and while many human females had proven their worth as fearless combatants it was not the norm. Many of the women he passed along his solemn trek did not look fit for battle, most were unarmed, and many were still clutching their children close to them, trying to shield them with their own bodies from their assailant's weaponry. " _Fallen trying to keep their young safe, but there is no honour in their sacrifice, they never should have been forced into this situation."_

Hanta's attention was then drawn to the children and the towering hunter could feel an intense burning hatred well up in his chest. The clicking of the Yautja's mandibles grew louder and louder as he stared at the tiny bodies. " _Pups, most not even mature enough to have tasted the thrill of their first hunt."_

A sudden crash grabbed the hunter's attention, whirling around with wrist blades extended from his right gauntlet the Yautja eyed the shattered remains of the house the noise had emanated from. " _Possibly just the dwelling collapsing upon itself… But I would rather not leave a stone unturned."_ The hunter was now on full alert as he crept forward silently until he was just in front of door to the domicile. With a quick flick of his eye the Yautja brought his plasma caster to life. Keeping his head on a swivel the Yautja entered the ruined house cautiously, his laser designator, built into his bio-mask and linked to the plasma caster, swept slowly across the room.

 _*Clunk!*_

Whirling around towards the source of the noise the Yautja let out a small click as he headed through the half collapsed hallway. " _Did they leave someone behind? Or perhaps a trap…"_ Those responsible for this massacre had a habit of booby trapping some of their victims, layering them up with explosives and turning the wounded into living bombs. An ingenious tactic to say the least, if it wasn't for the fact they tended to use children Hanta may have commended them for the devious ploy.

Coming to a halt in front of a door the hunter prepared to breach the room and deal with any possible threat on the other side. Turning the handle slowly the hunter shouldered the door open and burst into the room, weapons at the ready… Only to find the room empty. Cautiously stepping forward Hanta moved farther into the room, glancing around it became apparent that the small enclosure belonged to a child, no adult would have so many toys in their sleeping quarters.

Slowly Hanta searched the room cycling through vision modes until his foot splashed into a familiar warm liquid. Cursing himself for not smelling the distinct scent of blood, Hanta looked down into the sizeable pool with a frown underneath his battle scarred mask. The pool was still fresh and a small trail was streaked across the floor and continued underneath the bed. Double checking that his plasma caster was fully charged Hanta leant down grasping the side of the bed with his left hand while his right prepared to strike with his wrist blades.

With a small grunt Hanta threw the bed off to the side with a thunderous crash and lunged forward with a vicious snarl, one that vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. Laying their huddled in a tight ball was a small shivering human child. " _Just a boy, probably hasn't even had his first hunt and yet he was able to stay quiet enough to evade me."_ However now that the child's cover had been ripped away from him he was now letting out a tiny whimper much like a wounded animal that had little time left.

Retracting his wrist blades and setting his plasma caster into its idle state Hanta reached out with a clawed hand prodding the boy gently. He had been the first survivor from one of these attacks Hanta had come across but he was wounded and the Yautja needed to see the extent of his injuries. To the Yautja's surprise the boy kept his arms clamped firmly around his waist even as the hunter grew more forceful with his attempts. After a minute of whimpered struggling, the young boy finally stopped fighting revealing the full extent of his injuries, the sight brought with it a menacing growl from the hunter.

The boy's stomach was in bloody tatters, torn apart by what the humans called a shotgun. For most, such a wound would have spelt the end but miraculously this boy had survived. As Hanta leaned in closer to better survey the damage he caught sight of the boy's face causing the hunter's blood to run cold at the sight. Hanta had to actively hold back the enraged animalistic roar that threatened to escape him lest he terrify the boy even worse than he already was.

A single jagged knife cut ran across the boy's face, starting at his left temple and carving its way through the poor boy's eyes and nose, leaving a bloody trench that lead to the boy's right temple. Switching his viewing spectrum to give him an x-ray of the boy's body he let out an enraged growl that felt like it rattled the entire house. The boy had lost his eyes, suffered a gut wound that would bring even a Yautja to his knees and it appeared as if the shells from the human weapon had shattered the lower portion of the boy's spinal column.

 _"The damage is too extensive, the fact that he is still alive is astonishing, had he been given the chance he would have made a fine huntsman…"_ Hanta exhaled slowly, he had a basic medicomb on him at all times but there was nothing inside of it that would save the injured child.

"D-dad? Is t-t-that you?" The boy's voice was faint and shaky barely audible if not for Hanta's superior hearing. Slowly the boy reached out towards the hunter with a bloodied hand keeping the other firmly placed over the savage gut wound showing the fortitude that had taken him this far. "Can w-we still go to the p-park?" the sandy haired boy asked softly.

Grasping the dying boy's hand with his own Hanta gave the young one the most reassuring squeeze he could muster. It was difficult with his enhanced strength not to crush the boy's hand with his own but the hunter remained silent as he watched the boy. He was in pain that much was clear, the wounds he suffered would inevitably take him and his end would not be peaceful. So with a heavy heart Hanta placed his fist gently down against the boy's chest, in a way it was best that he could not see what was about to happen.

"D-dad… Tell me what h-honour… Means again…" the boy's voice was fading but did not betray the pain that was undoubtedly coursing through his shaking body. Giving the boy's hand another gentle squeeze Hanta extended his wrist blades and felt the boy's hand go limp in his own. " _Sleep young one, may there be no more pain and may the gods watch down upon you until the end of days"._ Slowly retracting his wrist blades Hanta exhaled slowly, killing an unarmed injured creature was heavily looked down upon, there was no glory to be had in an easy kill.

Slowly lifting the boy into his arms Hanta reached over and grasped the discarded bedframe turning it back over into its original position. Taking the bedsheets he slowly began wrapping the boy tightly in them before laying him down onto his bed. Bowing his head towards the boy Hanta left the house solemnly, the only sign of his burning anger was when he violently kicked open the front door to the house shattering it in the process.

Grasping one of the broken wooden pieces the Yautja walked over to one of the raging fires littered about the ruined colony. The shard of wood took to the flames in an instant and with a snarl Hanta threw the flaming wood into the now open doorway. The proud Yautja stood before the house of the boy as the fire spread through it. " _A proper burial I cannot provide, this will have to suffice"_ Hanta thought bitterly as the house quickly succumbed to the flames.

Gazing into the roaring flames of the burning domicile Hanta let out a series of clicks of irritation from his mandibles. " _This has become far too routine…"_ In truth Hanta had lost track of how many times he had done this, all he could do was add the demise of Tellar's Prospect to the ever growing list of sins that he would have to atone for. By his honour he would not stop until those responsible for this atrocity, as well as all the others, were put down like the animals they were. It was the Yautja's responsibility, after all he was the reason they still roamed the stars.

* * *

 **-15 Earth months ago-**

Looking down at his weaponry before him one last time, Hanta let out a content series of clicks with his mandibles as he began gearing up for the coming hunt. He had been planning this outing now for weeks and today was finally the day he would challenge himself against one of the most heavily armed human outposts he had ever laid eyes on. Weeks of observation told him it was some form of weapon development complex nestled deep in the secluded jungles of Nox.

It was not the first time he had run across one of Weyland-Yutani's secretive projects and the unflappable hunter had a feeling it would not be the last. In any case the human corporation mattered very little to Hanta, he couldn't care less what they actually got up to, so long as they didn't intrude on sacred Yautja territory. There was however one caveat to the company's presence, wherever they went they brought some of the most heavily armed, well trained mercenaries human money could buy. Just the thought of the fortress of a research facility sent a rush through the hunter's body.

Leaping from branch to branch with deft ease Hanta double checked his position with his bio-mask's positioning system. He was closing in on the human's perimeter defense and would be within range in about a minute at his current pace. The perimeter defenses in this case were a series of well positioned auto cannons all laden with sophisticated targeting technology that allowed them to even see through the Yautja's cloaking. Running a hand across the latest dent in his armour the hunter gave a soft chuckle those damn turrets had almost ended the hunt before it began.

As impressive as the defenses were they were far from infallible, weeks of study and careful planning had found a small chink in the human's otherwise robust armour. Dropping from the trees just as the first cannon came within view Hanta hit the ground running with a tremendous thud. Up ahead was a small riverbed and a quick scan showed the human's had yet to find this glaring weakness in their defences. Ducking into the rocky crevice Hanta could feel his cloaking begin to short out as he splashed through the trickling stream.

What made this little piece of jungle geography so essential to infiltrating the human's perimeter was the solid stone ceiling that obscured most of the tiny riverbed. The ceiling provided cover from the auto cannons that not even his cloak could provide. The sprint through the rocky crevice only took a minute and upon exiting the riverbed Hanta found himself on the other side of the tower perimeter, all of the auto cannons were facing outward as they never expected anyone to be able to sneak past them. " _A prideful oversight, one that will cost them"_ Hanta chuckled as he leapt back into the trees with the ease that came from years of practice.

Leaping from bough to bough Hanta double checked the status of his equipment one last time. " _Plasma caster… Fully charged, medicomb… Prepped if I should need it, shurikens… Both ready for use, wrist blades… Sharp as ever, excellent everything is perfect."_ Admittedly for such a dangerous hunt he was going in somewhat lightly armed but in his experience with the humans it was better to be as agile as possible. All it took was a moment of concentrated fire and no amount of armour in the universe would be able to stand up to the human's weapons.

Reaching a tree of massive proportions Hanta quickly made his way up the towering structure. He had specifically chosen this tree to be the kicking off point for the hunt as it gave a strategically impressive view of the compound he was about to infiltrate. Leaping into the cover of the trees Hanta looked down at the human outpost with a scrutinizing eye and a small scowl. " _Their patrols are still far too predictable… they're far too comfortable, I will need to change that"_ Hanta's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden deafening roar from above.

Breaking through the cloud cover, half a dozen ships raced towards the facility at furious pace. Pausing to study the approaching ships Hanta felt a peculiar sense of unease. These ships didn't belong to Weyland-Yutani and the hunter knew well enough that the corporation had little patience for those who found their way into the company's territory.

As if on cue the approaching ships began taking fire from the mercenaries on the ground. " _Small arms fire, just a warning then_ " Hanta thought taking note of the Weyland-Yutani armaments. Though the mercenaries' attack had simply been an aggressive warning the approaching ship's retaliation was far less kind. Opening fire in unison the ships unleashed a heavy volley of rockets that raced towards the compound at blinding speed. The Yautja in the tree could only watch as the devastating bombardment swept the mercenaries' defences away in a fiery explosion.

More mercenaries poured out of the compound itself setting up barricades and prepping for battle while others ran to go assist the wounded. " _Efficient and battle hardened, but they're outgunned and outmaneuvered"_ Hanta thought bitterly as he watched the ships close in once more for another run. This time the ships unleashed a hail of large caliber bullets that tore through the barricades that had been set up by the mercenaries. It looked as if most of the defending humans had been wiped out by the surprise attack and the hunter in the tree could only watch as the ships closed in for a landing.

Taking a chance Hanta leapt from the monstrous tree he was observing from, slamming his wrist blades into side of the trunk to slow his descent. Landing just outside the perimeter wall of the compound Hanta quickly scaled the structure ignoring the flames and wreckage from the rocket attack. The curious hunter reached the top of the wall just as the ships touched down. For a brief moment there was no movement but suddenly the doors to the ships opened with an audible hiss. Rushing out all at once were bands of humans running with a wicked glint in their eyes. The sight of the humans intrigued Hanta, they didn't seem like any of the military or mercenary companies he had come across in his time. They bore no uniforms, their weapons came in various shapes and sizes and they were as uncoordinated as raving cattle.

The new arrivals spread out like a swarm of locusts many of them rushing into the compound while others stayed behind on the landing platform. Those that stayed on the platform yelled and hollered at each other like wild beasts with a manic look in their eyes as they swept across the damaged courtyard. For such an uncoordinated and wild bunch they certainly made short work of the few surviving and wounded mercenaries, executing them with gory brutality.

From his spot on the wall Hanta stayed cloaked studying this new turn of events. It was now clear what these humans were, there was a word for it in the Yautja language but the closest human equivalent would have to be bandits. The cloaked hunter watched for over an hour while the humans ransacked the weapons facility loading up the ships they arrived in with weaponry, technology, food and basically anything that wasn't nailed down.

Part of Hanta, an incredibly large part of him, seethed in fury as he watched this rabble of dishonorable humans ransack the weapons facility. " _Weeks of careful preparation and training gone because of this pack of vermin!_ " Hanta growled angrily sliding his mandibles together as he pondered his next step. He could wipe them out right here and now, a few well-placed shots from his plasma caster would render the ships inoperable and then it was only a matter of picking off these pathetic humans one by one, a little revenge for ruining his well laid out plans.

But the thought quickly passed, revenge was a petty emotion, these bandits would be ill prepared for a Blooded Yautja such as himself. Instead he had a far better idea, reaching into the pouch along his waist Hanta retrieved a small tracking beacon and deftly threw it against the hull of one of the ships with a small ping that none of the bandits seemed to notice. " _They have taken from me a golden opportunity I can only hope that they can match the promise these humans had once posed."_

Not waiting for the bandits to finish their raid Hanta retreated from the wall heading back into the jungle. Running through the underbrush took little time and as he approached the defensive perimeter of auto cannons the Yautja was surprised to see they had been deactivated. " _The bandits doing no doubt…"_ Hanta's mandibles clicked together slowly as he continued his run through the jungle. Something about leaving those humans to their own devices didn't feel right. It was a confounding position he found himself in, while he could take no honour or glory in attacking an ill prepared force such as the bandits, the thought of letting them go free was gnawing at the back of the hunter's mind. His instincts told him to end their miserable existence now but tradition said otherwise.

Reaching the clearing he had parked his ship in record time Hanta quickly made his way into the cockpit of the ship as it was still de-cloaking. In the distance he could just pick out the roars of the bandits' ships coming to life as they took to the air leaving the atmosphere with surprising speed. It took longer for Hanta to start his own ship but once he had the hunter raced into the sky keeping an eye on his tracker's position which was now firmly displayed in the corner of his bio-mask. Hanta exited the atmosphere of Nox just in time to get a glimpse of the massive warship the bandits had undoubtedly come from just as it made the FTL jump leaving a surprised Hanta to chase after them.

For weeks the Yautja tracked the renegade humans but unfortunately he had severely underestimated the capabilities of their warship. It wasn't long before Hanta found himself days behind his new prey following the steadily fading signal from his tracker and the dwindling ion trails their ship left in its wake. Eventually the hunter's pursuit led him a small world just orbiting a star entering the last stages of its life cycle. Though the signal from his tracker had now moved on the mass of ion trails heading up and down from the planet's surface told him that his quarry had stopped here and made landfall.

Since it was clear that in a straight chase he was going to lose he decided to investigate the planet. With any luck he may have stumbled upon their base of operations and would only have to wait patiently for their return. If not then there might be some clue as to where they were headed next. Ensuring that the ship's cloak was still running Hanta dropped through the dense cloud cover of the planet following the various ion trails left behind by the bandit's landing craft. They all seemed to converge on a single location, a burnt out shell of a city that now lay in ruins.

Landing just outside the ruins of the city Hanta leapt from his ship and took off at a sprint, the feeling of unease he had back on Nox had returned with a vengeance. The sprint across the rocky terrain took little time but still felt like it stretched for eternity. Cresting the hill Hanta came to a halt as he looked upon the destruction before him. What had once been a thriving human city had been reduced to little more than crumbling ruins and ash.

Descending from the rocky outcrop Hanta entered the ravaged city under the cover of his cloak and made his way into the charred ruins. He walked in silence, releasing only a soft click and now then, for nearly ten minutes before he found the first body. Whoever he had been while alive was impossible to tell now as he had been torn to shreds in a hail of gunfire. " _No weapon… Was he even able to defend himself?"_

Pushing the thoughts of the dead man out of his mind Hanta continued his trek through the ruins of the city, a single dead human was nothing to get worked up over. Turning down one of the city's main streets the stoic Yautja came to an abrupt halt at what now lay before him. Bodies, bodies as far as the eye could see men, woman and children cut down in droves and left lying in piles in the streets. Walking amongst the corpses was a surreal moment for the hunter, while death was certainly not a new concept to him he had rarely seen such frivolous massacres and in those few situations it was on a battlefield.

This… This was different, there was no battle this was a slaughter, these people weren't given a chance to defend themselves before being mercilessly mowed down. Crouching down the hunter inspected the ground and found countless holes from where bullets had embedded themselves into the asphalt. Glancing upwards and cycling through vision modes confirmed his suspicions. " _The cowards attacked from above with their ships…Slaughtering people by the hundreds."_ Looking back into the sky only confirmed his suspicions, ion trails crisscrossed the city skyline over and over. It was clear that these bandits had simply made strafing runs of the streets and anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the open paid the price.

The words of his clan's Elders came back to him in that moment. _The human are a blight upon the universe, they kill frivolously without regard for respect or honour. They slay their own kin as if it were sport, they are little more than animals with access to technology they should never have come to possess._ It was at that moment that Hanta saw the Elders' perspective, the evidence of the human's capacity for inglorious bloodshed was laying before him. Unprepared men and woman and hapless children butchered like cattle. But the same could not be said for all humans, those that had lost their lives in this city turned tomb could not and should never be lumped into the same category as the bandits.

So Hanta continued his search through the ruined city to… Look for survivors? Was he searching for information on the bandits' next move? In truth he wasn't entirely sure why he was searching the burnt out skeleton of a city. What he was sure of however was that the more the Yautja saw the more he wanted to tear the spines out of each and every one of these mongrel bandits.

They had been merciless in their attack, after laying down a suppressive barrage down on most of the city the bandits landed and spread like a plague. The signs of their own personal brutality now marred what was once a beautiful city full of life. The signs of battle where the few able bodied defenders had laid down their lives to give others time to escape grew steadily less prevalent the deeper Hanta went into the city. The defenders had made the most of what little they had after the initial surprise attack and Hanta felt a swell of pride towards the humans he would never meet. " _They fought as best they could, they even took some of these fools with them_."

True to the hunter's words there were several bodies of slain bandits littered about the sites of conflict. But alas those too grew fewer and fewer as he made his way into the center of the city and up the steps of what had once been the city's council hall.

Kicking in the door to the council hall Hanta marched into this latest den of human depravity. Clearly the bandits had taken the hall as their own while they occupied the city, using it as a base of operations while they ransacked the surrounding buildings. It was a well thought out plan the walls were thick and easily defendable, it gave the bandits a tactical edge being at the center of the city and having access to just about any record they could ever need.

But all thoughts of tactical advantages and defences left the Yautja's mind as he stared around at the horrors the bandits had left behind in their wake. Even more bodies than before, strewn about the once austere atrium of the council hall in piles and left to rot. But as Hanta glare at the deceased a sickening realisation came to him, there were no men… Only the women and children were found in the hall, the men must have been executed elsewhere.

Moving through the hall with silence unfitting one as large as he, Hanta glared down at the bodies around him. The women were in varying states of undress, their clothing torn away from their bodies or wrapped around bloody wounds. A quick scan of the bodies told him everything he needed to know, he had his suspicions but the analytical part of him demanded proof. And the hunter was right, though he wished he was not, the bandits had forced themselves upon the women shortly before ending their lives… Or perhaps after, it was hard to tell.

Passing through the mounds of corpses Hanta tried to block out what he was seeing, he needed information he could not allow himself to be distracted from finding his prey. Despite his thoughts he could feel his heartrate accelerate as he took in more of the bandit's atrocities. Children butchered in groups, women strung up by their arms and legs and then used for target practice, it was revolting. Much of the universe saw his own people as violent monsters but the Yautja still had a code that they followed extensively. They did not torture, they hunted only those who could defend themselves and those who were worthy and when it came time to land the killing blow it was quick and as painless as possible. " _These mongrels have no code, no honour, no sense of… NO!"_

Hanta's thoughts were cut off as his scanner went over the body of a child, he had been doing his best to ignore the bodies of the children lying about with varying degrees of success. But what his scanner had just picked up could not be ignored. Rushing across the room Hanta dropped into a kneeling position beside the body of the now deceased girl. The information his mask was filtering to him sent his heartrate through the roof. Unable to hold back his rage anymore Hanta pulled his head back and let loose a deafening roar that could be heard for miles.

Looking back down at the young girl Hanta felt his blood boil. The girl was perhaps no older than five human years old, still just a young Pup in the eyes of a Yautja. Her neck had been twisted about forcefully severing the spinal column just at the base of her neck but that wasn't what threw the hunter into such a rage. Just like the women he had come across before she too had been taken advantage of. Memories of his own daughter flashed though his mind and a protective instinct born from being a father flared to life. Slamming his hand down upon the wooden floor and shattering it with the force of the blow Hanta tried to steady his roiling emotions to no avail.

 _"Animals! To do this to a Pup! They will pay with their lives!"_ It didn't matter that the young girl was a human, there were rules that extended to all races and these bandits had broken them. Scooping up the fragile child into his arms the hunter reached over and tore the curtains from one of the nearby windows. Closing her eyes gently and wrapping her in the cloth he laid the girl down at the center of the council chambers. Using his plasma caster he fired off a series of low yield shots that set fire to the chambers around him.

 _"To any gods that may still be listening, heed my words… Guide this Pup on her journey into the great unknown. She perished not because of her own failures but because of mine, let me bear her burden and all those that have been cut short due to my own negligence."_ Hanta's words echoed inside his mind, whether any gods were listening to his prayers or not was inconsequential, he now knew the path he had unwittingly set himself upon.

As the council hall burned around him Hanta strode out of the building ignoring the flames that licked just at his heels. Turning around to face the building from the bottom of the steps leading up to it Hanta watched in stony silence as the flames consumed the once proud building.

* * *

 **-Present Day-**

That day would reside with Hanta for the rest of his life. By not taking action on Nox he himself had subjected all those lives to death and the tortures of the bandits. He swore upon his pride and his very honour that he would not rest until he found and destroyed the bandits who had committed that atrocity. Tellar's Prospect had simply been the latest in a long line of sacked colonies but Hanta took heart in knowing he was closing in on his prey. Soon he would catch up them and end their miserable existence and hopefully atone for his past transgressions.

As the house of the sandy haired boy succumbed to the flames and collapsed upon itself, Hanta turned away from the now all too familiar scene. Making his way through the still burning colony towards his ship, Hanta let out a heavy sigh. Many of his clan members would call him a fool, that the humans had no honour to begin with. They would say that this revenge mission was folly and his time would be better suited elsewhere. But they would be wrong, revenge is a petty emotion, one that he felt was beneath him. No this was not about revenge, this was a matter of honour.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** **Hello everyone! So we got ourselves a brand new story! After finishing Alien: Are You Afraid of the Dark? I had the itch to delve into the opposite side of the universe and write a story about our favourite intergalactic hunters.**

 **I've always loved the Predators and have always entertained the idea of having one of them become an anti-hero of sorts. To do this I knew I needed to give him an adversary that was just as deadly and yet would cross the lines that not even the Predators would cross, hence the somewhat excessively dark material. We'll be getting a closer look into the bandits in the next chapter as well as a little more action.**

 **I've always felt like one of the best parts of the Predator movies was the slow burning tension that steadily ramps up almost hitting slasher movie levels until the action commences. I tried to replicate that as best as I could. I also needed to give a little backstory into Hanta (points to anyone who can figure out his name… It's actually not as clever as I'd like it to be) not so much to humanize him but more of just to give you an idea of where he's coming from. Also it should be noted that all of Hanta's dialogue is happening within in his own head, lets just say its been 'translated' from Yautja to English for your viewing ease.**

 **Also I've now learned you can't use different fonts which kind of sucks. I downloaded the entire Predator font to give the story a fun bit of, I guess you could call it fan service.**

 **Anyways I hope you all enjoy this first chapter. Until next time everyone! Take care!**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Hunt Begins

**Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins**

It was said that the planet Charth was a shithole before Weyland-Yutani bought out the sector and began terraforming the once desolate rocky planet. Once a stable atmosphere had been established and the climate had been regulated to vaguely livable conditions, Charth became known as a shithole that Weyland-Yutani could make a serious profit off of. The isolated planet, outside what was generally regarded as 'Colonial Space,' boasted one of the highest concentrations of tritium in the known galaxy which is what originally drew the eye of the megacorporation.

The naturally occurring isotope was used to power reactors for everything, from power plants to starship hyperdrive systems. So when Weyland-Yutani stumbled on the veritable radioactive goldmine they jumped at the opportunity to claim it for their own. They set up one of their largest mining facilities in record time and to cut costs in the long run expanded on the facility transforming it into a fairly robust city. Dubbed Unko by those living there, the inhabitants quickly learned that while yes Weyland-Yutani invested vast sums into the planet, most of it went straight into the mining sector leaving the rest of the city to rot, hence the name.

While jobs were by no means sparse across the colony, it was wildly known that the only ones paying anything decent were those centered in the mining sector. It wouldn't be the first time Sera Thresh thought about applying for a mining position and she doubted it would be the last as she strode down the seedy backstreets of Unko's slums. Despite her meager existence Sera still enjoyed living and it was no secret that getting a job in those mines cut your life expectancy in the worst possible way. Exposure to radiation and backbreaking labour left the average person's body in ruins in no more than four years.

Glancing down at her lithe frame she couldn't help but smirk. "Yeah, no way in hell you're getting me down there" the young woman muttered taking a turn down an alleyway that would cut her walk home in half. It had been a long evening and all she wanted was to go home, lie down in her hammock, listen to some music and chat with Raven. The thought of the fifteen year old girl that had quickly become the closest thing to a sister she would ever have brought a rare smile to the young woman as she passed by a storefront to an electronics store.

Coming to a halt in front of the picture window Sera glanced into the shop spotting an old gaming console and a series of games to go along with it. Raven would love to have one of these. She was always going on about vintage games that were made well before either of them had been born. But one glance at the price wiped the smile from Sera's face, even if money wasn't as tight as it was, what they were asking, for a piece of machinery over two centuries old, was ludicrous. That just seemed to be the case for almost everything on Charth, taxed to hell and expensive as shit.

Rising up Sera took a second to glance at her reflection in the dirty glass of the storefront. Frowning at her reflection her gaze was drawn to the bags under her emerald eyes, her tousled crimson hair and then finally to the small red blemish on her neck. "Rae's not gonna like this" Sera muttered trying to rub away the mark to no avail. It wasn't that the mark itself was the problem, it was how she got it and Sera knew Raven would not be pleased to see it.

Running a hand through her crimson hair that ran down to the middle of her back, Sera took another appraising look at herself in the dimly lit area. Despite the imperfections she still cut a stunning figure, at six feet tall with lightly tanned skin that had seen just enough weathering to give off that tough image that was needed in Unko.

"Hey girl! How you doing!?" A shout echoed from behind Sera causing the distracted girl to jolt in surprise. Glancing over her reflection's shoulder she could just make out the silhouette of a slouching man waving to her from the other side of the street.

"Ah fuck, not now" Sera sighed, turning away from the window and continuing down the street doing her best to ignore the drunken idiot calling after her.

"Where you going doll!?" The drunkard called out after the woman as she made her way down the street. Swaying slightly on the spot the man continued after the crimson haired beauty dropping the empty bottle he had been holding onto.

The sound of shattering glass and the shambling footsteps of the man approaching her from behind made Sera grown at her rotten luck. "Just had a whole shift dealing with you assholes, I don't need this now" Sera moaned as the man closed in on her. Glancing down at her feet Sera sighed with barely contained exacerbation. " _Fucking heels, great idea Sera good luck running with these on, ah shit he's getting closer!"_ Taking a quick turn down a side street Sera hoped to lose the drunk in the mazelike slums, but luck wasn't on her side because no matter how fast she moved the man seemed to be right on her tail, the steady clack of her heels giving away her position couldn't have helped either.

"What's the rush girl?" The man called out, his slurred words sending a shiver straight up Sera's spine, it was a tone of voice she was all too familiar with at this point. "Come on I saw you working at The Blue Moon, how about we have a go? My treat" the drunkard slurred not noticing the way Sera's muscles clenched up as she tried to hold back the feeling of nausea running through her.

Reaching out the man grabbed the crimson haired beauty by the shoulder trying to halt her progress only for her to shrug off the attempt without even glancing in his direction. " _Stay calm, maybe he'll finally get the hint, you're not interested,"_ she could just vaguely hear the man stumble about trying to right himself after being brushed off and there was a moment where she thought that maybe she had actually gotten away. Those hopes were dashed though as the sound of rapid footsteps began heading straight for her.

Deftly opening her handbag Sera reached in and after a few frantic seconds of fumbling began pulling out the switchblade she kept on her at all times. The soft click of the blade extending was drowned out by the clumsy footsteps of the man as he closed in on her. " _Don't make me do it asshole, I don't need this right now!"_ Sera thought bitterly as she prepared for the coming altercation. Glancing at their shadows cast by a nearby lamppost Sera could feel her muscles tense as the shadow of the man's arm reached out for her once more. Holding her breath Sera gripped the knife tightly in preparation to spin around and stab it into the man's hand the moment he touched her.

"Alright, Cletus that's enough!" An angered but familiar voice called out from behind the girl and Sera felt herself release a sigh of relief as she saw the shadow of a muscular arm holding the drunk's back. Slowly she retracted the blade of her knife, slipping it back into the depths of her bag as she turned to face her rescuer.

"And who the fuck are you?" The man named Cletus spat at the man holding his outstretched arm in an air tight grip.

"Aww I'm hurt you don't remember me Cletus, or are you just too off your ass to remember the last time you tried to pull a stunt like this and I stopped you" the muscular man growled increasing the pressure on the drunk's wrist enough to get a wince out of him. "Now I suggest you get lost before I throw you back in the drunk tank, I bet if I ask the Sarge real nicely I can get you a full week's stay" the man grinned as Cletus' complexion paled at the thought.

"Just wanted a bit a action, wasn't gonna hurt no one" Cletus mumbled backing away slowly from the pair with a frown. Spotting the scowl on the other man's face caused the drunken man to pick up the pace shambling down the deserted street.

"You know I had that under control Evan" Sera huffed glaring at the good natured man in front of her who only smiled back. His short blond buzz cut hair gleaming in the light thrown off by the lamppost just behind him. At just over six feet tall he was just a tad taller than Sera herself, but his combat boots and armour made him look far bulkier than he actually was. In the right lighting his whole ensemble could make him look fairly intimidating even if he was just a big teddy bear underneath that armour.

"Hey I'm still on the clock ma'am, so for now it's Corporal Spurrell" the young marine chuckled at the unimpressed look Sera was giving him.

The day I call you that _Evan,_ is the day I buy Rae that pony she's always wanted" Sera smirked making sure to stress the man's name who took the jab in the good natured way he took just about everything. " _God, how you got into the military is beyond me, you're too goddamn nice."_

"Well you can't blame me for trying right?" Evan chuckled cracking his knuckles absentmindedly. "Seriously though you need to be a little more careful out here, Cletus is downright harmless compared to some of the other sicko's out here" Evan stated, his voice taking on a more somber tone.

"Thanks Evan but I already told you I had everything under control" Sera replied leaning against the concrete wall behind her, her loose fitting cardigan sliding down her arm to reveal her shoulder.

"Yeah that toothpick in your bag's not gonna be much help if one of the really nasty guys come after you" Evan countered with a knowing smirk. Glancing down towards Sera's handbag the young marine knew full well the tiny implement wasn't suited for protecting anyone on these streets. "I keep telling you to take my combat knife it'd be way better protection… and I could give you some private lessons on how to use it" Evan smiled awkwardly earning a small giggle from the young woman beside him.

"You know you're kinda shit at this whole flirting thing" Sera chuckled as she reached into her bag pulling out her almost empty pack of cigarettes. " _Almost out, well shit…"_ Sera thought sourly as she fished around for her lighter.

"What? Flirting? Who said anything about flirting? I'm just offering to help a friend in need" Evan laughed rubbing the back of his head and trying to look anywhere but at the crimson haired beauty who continued to search for her wayward lighter. Evan was a nice guy probably one of the few left on this rock they called a planet, he was certainly the only decent one that Sera interacted with. Her usual clientele consisted of drunken pigs, chauvinistic assholes and cocky fuckbois. Luckily Evan didn't fall into any of these categories and had actually become one of the few friends she had made in her time on Charth. It also helped that he was, as Raven kept insisting, easy on the eyes.

After a few more seconds Sera finally located her lighter and pulled it from her bag. Triumphantly she lit her cigarette taking a long drag and feeling the rush of nicotine course through her system, closing her eyes she could feel some of the stress that had been eating away at her begin to ebb away. She slowly broke into a small smile knowing what was coming next, " _any second now…"_ A small sigh escaped the young marine's mouth, looking pointedly from the crimson haired beauty to the cigarette.

"You know I hear those things will kill you" Evan chuckled somewhat humourlessly from beside Sera wrinkling his nose slightly from the smell.

"Oh don't worry about it Boy Scout, these can't be any worse than the pollution Weyland-Yutani's pumping into the air" Sera chuckled taking another long drag and making sure to blow the smoke away from Evan, he never did like the smell.

Grimacing at the nickname Sera had given them on their first meeting Evan did his best to ignore the smoke and move on. While she did have a point that the pollution in the air was tantamount to poison itself, that hardly made the habit ok, one didn't exactly cancel out the other.

Noticing the marine's discomfort Sera rolled her eyes and gave him a light pat on the cheek to get his attention. "Hey if it makes you feel any better I have been cutting back, only ever have one when I'm really stressed" Sera sighed before a coy smile crept up on her. "Sucks because I'm almost out and with the price for a pack being so damn high I wonder how I'll be able to destress in the future?" Sera asked cocking a mischievous eyebrow towards the confused looking marine. "Maybe you could help me with that?" She teased giving Evan a playful wink that turned the man's cheeks scarlet.

"I… Yeah… I mean… You uhhh…. Totally!" Evan rambled feeling his body tense up as he tried to play things smoothly and failed in spectacular fashion. Sera could only chuckle at the marine's choppy response taking the time he was distracted to finish off her smoke and tossing it away as he tried, and failed, to compose himself. Sera couldn't help but enjoy the back and forth flirting they shared even though it seemed to be getting them nowhere slowly. It was cute to see the Boy Scout try and pull off the debonair attitude and it was nothing short of hilarious to wind the man up with some of her own little comments.

After what felt like a good five minutes Evan finally got himself under control and speaking in coherent sentences once again, though it would only take one double entendre to set him off again. "So how was your day?" Evan asked now leaning against the same wall as Sera so they were side by side. It was no secret that neither he nor Raven particularly liked that she worked at The Blue Moon. If Sera was being totally honest with herself she hated it more than the two of them put together, but it put money on the table.

The Blue Moon was officially listed as a gentleman's club, though there was hardly anything gentlemanly about it, ironically it was where she had met the Boy Scout to her left. So as Sera griped about her day to one of the few people she trusted enough to give such information to, her mind drifted back to meeting the blond haired man a few years prior.

She had been primarily serving drinks that day when Evan and his squad came into The Blue Moon. They had come in to celebrate Evan's eighteenth birthday and decided he needed to unwind despite his adamant stance that he didn't really want to go to the strip club. As the night progressed Sera couldn't help but look over to the young marine who had been nursing the beer she had brought him at the start of their evening. He seemed to have no interest in the girls around him unlike his squad who represented the more common type of customers they received every night. A few times during the evening she caught him glancing her way and she couldn't help but smirk at the rather glum look the marine had while his friends seemed to be having the time of their lives.

When it finally came time for her slot on stage, Sera walked out to the usual chorus of wolf whistles and cheers but for once she was able to ignore them, instead keeping her eyes trained on the blond marine at the back. Her performance was admittedly nothing unique, just her usual set but the whole time she kept her gaze locked with the marine who had now pounded back three drinks in rapid succession. By the end of the performance, she walked off stage as sultry as she could and passed a quick glance to the table at the back, holding it just long enough to ensure that everyone sitting at the table saw.

It wasn't very long until one of his grinning squad mates came up to her asking how much it would cost for a private session. One quick transaction later and Sera was dragging Evan into the back rooms by the chair. She still remembered how shocked he was when she dragged him along with little effort. But it was what followed that she would never forget and what had formed their friendship.

Her happy memories were suddenly cut off by a shrill beeping coming from Evan's chest. Jumping at the surprising noise Evan fumbled with the communicator hanging out of his shirt until he managed to fit the earpiece back into its proper position. "Apologies sir! My earpiece fell out didn't mean to keep you waiting!" Evan answered quickly, his posture straightening into its military routine. Sera couldn't help but smirk at how awkward the corporal looked now, it seemed the only people able to get these kinds of reactions out of him were herself and his superior officers.

She still felt it was strange that the Colonial Marines were permanently stationed on Charth. Normally the Marines constantly kept on the move moving from colony to colony as they were needed. In the case of Charth however they bunkered down a sizeable detachment of their troops and became the colony's personal security and pseudo police force. Rumour had it that Weyland-Yutani spent exorbitant amounts of money for the Marines to set up a garrison on the mining colony, other rumours were… less than favourable and most didn't want to say them out loud for fear of who might be listening.

"Right sir, I understand I'll get there ASAP… Thank you" Evan flicked off the communicator a deep frown etched into his face as he glanced upwards.

"Trouble in paradise?" Sera teased only to stop when she saw how serious he was. "Hey you ok Boy Scout?" The emerald eyed woman asked tentatively giving the corporal a prod to get his attention.

Jumping at the touch Evan locked eyes with the woman beside him as if just remembering she was there. "Sorry Sera, that was the commander he just gave all units a recall order, a ship just dropped out of hyperspace" Evan stated, his tension visible in how tight he clenched his jaw.

"All that for one ship, it's probably just making a delivery" Sera said crossing her arms.

"Doubtful, initial scans mark it as the USS-Cubic, one of our warships that supposedly went missing over three years ago" Evan muttered pulling the pulse rifle off his back to perform a quick weapon's check.

"I still don't see the real problem" Sera replied casting a dubious look to the sky hanging above their heads.

"Well it's been linked to the destruction of several fringe colonies, a couple colonies' final outbound reports were spotting the Cubic dropping out of hyperspace before all communications in the area went dead" Evan explained taking a second to check that the pistol at his waist was fully loaded as well. "Some say it's a cursed ghost ship but I call bull, I know pirates when I see them" Evan continued slipping his combat knife into its holster along the side of his boot.

Turning to face the exotic dancer Evan flinched at the worried look she was giving him. "Look I'm sorry but I got to get going they're gonna need all hands on deck" Evan apologized rubbing the back of his neck as he began to back up. He hadn't taken more than three steps backwards before Sera's hand reached out grabbing him by the wrist and holding them there with surprising strength for someone as lithe as she.

"You just be careful out there Boy Scout, you hear me?" Sera said making sure to give the corporal's wrist a soft squeeze.

"Aren't I always?" Evan shrugged, a small smirk returning to his face.

"To excessive amounts… I'll see you later ok?" It was more of a command than a question and Evan knew it. Nodding in agreement he began to leave once more just as Sera gave him a quick pat on the back.

"Couldn't keep me away if you tried, oh and tell Rae I said hi!" Evan called out as he began jogging back to the garrison, leaving the crimson haired dancer behind on the glum streets to make her way back home alone. Luckily she was almost there and in two short minutes she was passing through the squeaky door leading into the home she shared with Raven.

"Hey Rae I'm home!" Sera called out as she locked the door behind her. Glancing around the small room that made up the majority of their home Sera's eyes fell on the petit frame of the girl she was calling out to. While Sera may have been taller than the average woman her age Raven most certainly wasn't. At barely five and a half feet the girl had yet to hit a significant growth spurt in the time they lived together.

"You're late again" Raven huffed tucking some loose strands of black hair behind her ear as she glared up at the girl that had quickly become her older sister. Taking a quick whiff of the air around Sera, Raven's eyes narrowed on the older girl in suspicion. "And you've been smoking again" Raven continued angrily doing her best to look intimidating despite the significant size difference between the two.

Rolling her eyes at the fifteen year old's statements Sera ruffled Raven's shoulder length ebony hair as she made her way into their home. "Nice to see you to sis" Sera chuckled tossing her bag down on the small office desk they had salvaged and turned into a kitchen table. Looking around most of the furniture in the small living space was either salvaged or made from scratch. The building itself had originally been an old mining office, but after a little hard work, and admittedly a few helping hands from Evan, they managed to turn the former office into a comfortable little apartment.

When Sera received no response back she slowly turned to face the younger girl, it was her turn now to narrow her eyes suspiciously. "Alright where is it" Sera asked crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow at the steadily reddening blush spreading across Raven's cheeks. The colour only accentuated by the girl's pale skin.

"Where's what sis?" Raven asked sweetly rocking on the balls of her feet while she tried to look anywhere but at the crimson haired dancer.

"Whatever it is you stole, cough it up squirt" Sera demanded holding out her hand towards the guilty party. The girl may have had a cute face but she couldn't play poker worth a damn with it.

"It's under my bed" Raven grumbled, slouching in defeat as Sera walked over to her bedroom.

"What do I keep telling you Rae?" Sera called out from the other room sounding more tired than anything. "You got to cut it out with the klepto – Shit!" Sera shouted in surprise running into the main room with a serious scowl on her face and a handgun in her right hand. "A gun, seriously?! You stole a goddamn gun?! Where did you even get this?!" Sera exclaimed setting the pristine handgun down on the kitchen table.

"The Marine's armory" Raven responded, coming to sit at the table and picking up the weapon to get a closer look at it.

"The- the armory?! How the shit did you even get in there?! You know what?! I don't even want to know!" Sera exclaimed taking the gun from Raven and placing it on top of her bag with a sigh. "Look Rae, can you please knock it off with all the stealing, for me?" Sera sighed, sitting down in the seat next to the ebony haired girl and swinging her arm around her shoulders in a quick one armed hug.

"Tell you what sis, I'll stop stealing when you stop selling your body away at that shithole" Raven huffed crossing her arms as Sera lightly slapped her shoulder.

"Hey, language kiddo and I've told you I've only been dancing" Sera countered, leaning back in her chair to look up into the rafters of their home. " _Which isn't at all true but I don't want you to worry,"_ Sera thought glumly not realising the collar of her cardigan had slipped down revealing her neck.

"Uh huh, sure" Raven scoffed glaring at the red welt on the side of Sera's neck. " _Didn't realise dancing involved getting hickeys and that sure as hell wasn't from Evan…"_ Raven thought bitterly. For the better part of their time together Sera had gone out of her way to care for Raven, covering all the expenses and ensuring that the ebony haired youth got everything she needed. It was just a year ago that Raven grew curious as to what exactly Sera did to earn her money and so she had followed her to The Blue Moon. Slipping inside and finding her big sister in an incredibly compromising position had been nothing short of traumatically scarring for the young girl.

Since then Raven had gone out of her way to try and make money where she could, however no place would hire her legitimately due to her age so she resorted to the next best thing. Looking back she never thought she'd make a very good thief but she quickly discovered she had quite the knack for it. Pickpocketing, breaking and entering and even a little identity theft, nothing was off the table and she felt happy that she was finally able to lighten the load on her sister's shoulders. But just as Raven disliked Sera's position at The Blue Moon, Sera was just as displeased, if not more so, when she discovered Raven's occupation.

"You know I think I can get a decent price for it" Raven muttered earning a single raised eyebrow from Sera who had now closed her eyes.

"See, it's stuff like this that makes me want to have a smoke Rae" Sera moaned running her hand through her hair and turning her full attention to the girl beside her.

"I'm serious!" Raven huffed in annoyance.

"So am I" Sera countered monotonously.

"Look Louie said he can fence the gun for a good price this time" Raven insisted grabbing the handgun and inspecting the barrel to make sure there was no damage. "Plus he might offer a little more if I offer him the box of ammunition this came with" the grin on Raven's face was enough to earn a small chuckle from the tired dancer but not much else.

"Fine, just please try and stay out of trouble, for me. You know how much I worry about you" Sera sighed giving the girl a small kiss on the top of her head. " _She's gotten way too use to this kinda_ life," Sera thought sourly. She didn't mean to sound like a mom all the time but it just seemed like the ebony haired girl brought that side out of her. After coming across the frail and starved girl in the streets over three years ago Sera couldn't help but take her in. Her parents having been lost to the mines and having no notable family to speak of Sera felt compelled to take care of the young girl.

Getting up and out of the chair Sera stretched her arms as she made her way to her room. It wasn't anything spectacular but it was hers. They had only been able to scavenge a single bed so far and that one went straight to Raven. They did however come across a hammock that Sera had taken quite the shine to. Hopping into the swinging hammock, secured to the rafters above, Sera kicked off her heels and grabbed her music player from the shelf beside her makeshift bed.

Swinging from side to side lazily Sera's mind began to wander as she cycled through her songs. " _How I've made it this long listening to the same music over and over is beyond me,"_ Sera's grin held little mirth as she eyed one of the few relics of her past life. While Raven had found her way to the streets because of rotten luck Sera had chosen this life, in a matter of speaking. While she didn't envision this lifestyle when she ran out of her drunk of a father's house with nothing but a few personal belongings, the clothes on her back and the bastard's credit card, she couldn't help but think that she could have planned it better. " _Taking the first possible flight off world sure as hell wasn't smart in hindsight."_

Sighing to herself she picked a song to start with but just as she was about to slip the worn earbud into her ear she remembered one last thing she had to do. "By the way, Evan says hi" Sera called out from her swinging hammock. No sooner had the words escaped her lips than her ebony haired sister barged into her room with an excited glint in her eye.

"Did you finally ask him out?!" Raven exclaimed, hopping up and down excitedly as Sera just chuckled at the girl's response.

"No I haven't, I'm waiting to see how long it takes him to ask me" Sera grinned as she changed her mind on what song she was going to choose.

"But why? He totally likes and you guys have already had sex, just ask him and get it over with!" Raven huffed throwing her arms in the air.

"For the last time we have not had sex!" Sera growled glaring daggers down at Raven from her hammock.

"But you said his friends bought one of those 'private sessions' with you when you two first met" Raven replied crossing her arms at the death glare she was receiving. "And need I remind you I'm fully aware of what happens back there, thank you very much" Raven huffed giving Sera a pointed look.

"Alright, I'm gonna explain this one last time squirt so listen up" Sera growled leaning in close to the girl's face. "His idiot friends bought him a private session with me, he kept insisting that this wasn't his thing and he'd much rather just talk" Sera hissed, conveniently leaving out the part where he had called her gorgeous. "So we talked for over an hour, he ate up the last chunk of my shift, he got to get away from the club, we became friends and all on his dumbass friends' dime, that's it, that's all, everyone wins and no one had to drop their pants" Sera concluded, also leaving out the part where she hadn't been wearing pants to begin with.

"You know for a hunky marine and a saucy stripper you two have such a boring relationship" Raven grumbled, shambling out of the room as if Sera had just told her Christmas had been cancelled.

"Ugh goodnight runt!" Sera called after the girl, shoving both earbuds into her ears to block out the, no doubt, snarky response. Slamming her head into the worn pillow behind her Sera hit play and let the music that she'd had with her for her entire time on Charth work its magic.

 _Confession_

 _She's caught in her dream_

 _Confession_

 _Is she really what it seems?_

 _And she can't escape_

 _From her fate_

 _Still her daemons crawl_

 _She has to fall to rise_

As the familiar lyrics drifted over her and lulled her to sleep she couldn't help but feel a growing sense of unease. Something was wrong but she couldn't figure out what and by the time she really started to put some thought into it the music claimed her pulling her into a deep slumber.

* * *

Boredom, it wasn't the first thing one would expect to feel traveling the infinite expanse of space. But after spending so much time out in the cold void even the enticing prospect of exploring the vast unknown began to lose some of its luster.

Captain Tyrian wasn't sure when the boredom began to set in, perhaps it was when he led his boys in the attack on the Weyland-Yutani shipyards orbiting the gas giant Trill. Maybe it had been when they raided the experimental weapons facility on Nox. Hell it could even have been ransacking the city of Atlas, the fact remained that raiding colony after colony was beginning to lose some of its luster.

Did the thought of abandoning his fellow bandits cross his mind? Not once, far from it actually, he simply came to the conclusion that he needed something fresh, something exciting to give him a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Because sitting at the end of his bed like he was, cycling through the chambers of his .45 Smith & Wesson Schofield Revolver, was getting him nowhere.

"Need something new, something fresh…" Tyrian muttered looking around the captain's quarters of what had once been the USS-Cubic. Procuring the warship had been his crowning glory and solidified his place as top dog amongst his raiders, since then they travelled the stars taking what they wanted, when they wanted and more often than not _who_ they wanted.

Sparing a glance back Tyrian's heavily-lidded eyes fell on the prone form of a woman just barely wrapped in sheets and nothing else. Lying on the floor beside the bed facedown, the woman had long blonde hair that stretched down to the small of her back but it failed to cover the bruising and cuts running up and down her body as well as the dull metallic surface of the slave collar around her neck. She had been fun but it was still nothing new and the raider captain scowled as he realised he was getting bored with all the meaningless 'encounters.'

A sudden jolt shook Tyrian from his thoughts as the ship around him rumbled loudly. "Finally outta hyperspace then" Tyrian muttered adjusting the sights on the revolver he valued more than most of his crew.

A sharp knock against the door frame drew the raider captain's attention to the entrance of the room. Sighing to himself he sat perfectly still not making a sound hoping the knocker would just leave, he really wasn't in the mood to talk to the man. There was only one person on this entire ship who had the cojones to knock on the captain's door, so Tyrian wasn't surprised when a second knock came from the entryway. "I know you're in there captain, I need to discuss a few matters with you" the voice on the other end was crisp and refined unlike the nonsense most of his other crew spewed out.

"Door's open, come in Reggie" Tyrian sighed as the door slid open immediately revealing the lanky man behind it. Tyrian eyed his second in command as the tall man strode into the captain's chambers only sparing a quick glance at the unconscious woman by the bed. The man was unnerving on his best day with piercing blue eyes, a pointed glare and no hair to speak of save for the paltry amount on his forearms. Coming to a halt in front of Tyrian the man stood there unmoving simply staring at the captain with an almost vacant expression.

"Look Reggie what do you want now?" Tyrian hissed thumbing the hammer of his revolver absentmindedly.

"I would prefer it if you called me Reginald, sir" Tyrian's second in command's reply, much like himself was, unnerving. The man had the unnatural talent to sound completely devoid of emotion while simultaneously giving off a subtle hint of contempt with it.

"What. Do. You. Want?" Tyrian growled making sure to stress each word. He'd have killed Reginald and spaced him a long time ago if it wasn't for the man's intelligence and work ethic. While Tyrian lead his bandits and acted as their focal point to rally around, it was Reginald that kept the ship running and performed all the day to day maintenance that Tyrian couldn't trust the rest of his boys with.

"I'm just here to let you know we've arrived at our latest destination" Reginald replied, handing the bandit captain a datapad, one that he quickly put down to look at the man before him. Ignoring the glare the captain was giving him Reginald pressed on. "We just arrived at the planet Charth, it's a rather rocky planet without much life save for a single large colony" Reginald stated placing both hands behind his back as he dictated his report to the self-appointed captain.

"So there's only one colony?" Tyrian asked picking up the datapad that gave an overview of the planet's topography. Before Reginald could even respond to the bandit leader's question Tyrian pressed on as his eyes scoured the datapad in his hands. "Jesus man this place is literally just a rock with some air stuck to it, why would we want a place like this?" Tyrian huffed dropping the datapad back to the ground with a loud clatter.

Unfazed by the outburst the lanky man retrieved the datapad from the ground wiping away some dust before addressing the captain once more. "While yes you are right Charth is lacking in certain environmental aspects it more than makes up for it with three very important resources" Reginald dictated passing a lightning fast glance from one side of the room to the other.

"I'm all ears string bean" Tyrian chuckled. Going back to fiddling with the hammer of his revolver the bandit leader kept his eyes trained on Reginald's as the man continued his report.

"First and foremost is the planet's unusually high concentration of tritium, the planet is lousy with it and so if we can acquire enough of it we can turn quite the profit on sales alone" Reginald stated keeping his eyes locked with Tyrian's. "Second, and I'm sure some of the men will appreciate this, is the size of the colony itself. Weyland-Yutani has invested quite a bit into this project and so it needs a large populace to run the whole operation" Reginald continued passing another glance at the unconscious woman for just a moment. "I'm sure the others will enjoy the… fresh meat…" the second in command stated with a note of distaste in his voice. "Lastly there's the matter of equipment, as I stated previously Weyland-Yutani has invested quite handsomely into this project and so they've spared almost no expense in terms of technology, man power… and security" Reginald stated letting the last word hang so Tyrian could realise his meaning.

"You mean…?" Tyrian asked cautiously eyeing the lanky man standing at attention before him.

"Indeed, state of the art defensive weaponry, an entire garrison of Colonial Marines and environmental positioning that would make any attack against them a herculean task" Reginald detailed, the smallest hint of a smile spreading from his lips. It was no secret that the captain was becoming increasingly restless with the string of uncontested raids they had performed. The idea of laying siege to the colony of Unko was hopefully enticing enough to capture the captain's attention.

"Now we're talking!" Tyrian exclaimed showing signs of life for the first time in weeks. "Let me see that datapad!" The captain had already swiped the datapad out of Reginald's hand before the lanky man could offer it to him. "Oh this is fantastic!" Tyrian's eyes grew wider and wider as he looked over the stream of data on the handheld device. "X-54 anti-air rail turrets and an operating force of over one hundred Colonial Marines, oh shit and these aren't a bunch of wet sacks these are the vets!" Tyrian was practically giggling with excitement as he read through the list of the colony's ample defenses.

"Yes the rail turrets are one of the main issues I would like to discuss with you" Reginald stated grabbing the giddy bandit captain's attention. "As you can see they are strategically placed to maximize overlapping fire while still providing ample protection from both air and ground assault, I was going to suggest utilizing the Cubic's-"

"I told you Reggie she's called Dick Demolisher now" Tyrian growled, cutting the lanky man's report off with a wave of his hand. Reginald only arched an eyebrow in response, Tyrian seemed to have a new name for the ship every other day. Last week it had been Hyman Buster, two days after he had switched the name to Tyrian's Fuckstick and now it was apparently Dick Demolisher. Reginald had no doubt that the bandit captain would come up with a fresh name before they even began the attack.

"Yes well regardless of her name I suggest we use the ship's cannons to lay down a strategically placed orbital bombardment to pulverize their defences prior to entry" Reginald stated. As he waited for the man's response Reginald began pacing back and forth slowly, keeping an eye trained on the unpredictable captain. After almost a minute of straight contemplation Tyrian clapped his hands together and broke into a wicked grin.

"Tough choice, tell you what?" Tyrian said fishing around in the pockets of his pants. "We flip for it" Tyrian chuckled finally retrieving a rusted coin from his pocket.

Rolling his eyes at the absurd prospect, Reginald nodded slowly. He could have argued the point but Tyrian never turned down an opportunity to flip a coin to make his decision. The bandit captain had mentioned seeing it from a character in an old comic book he used to read as child, it was a practice he carried well into adulthood.

"Heads we lay down a suppressive barrage on those AA guns, tails we don't" Tyrian grinned wider revealing the degenerating teeth behind his lips that always caused the corner of Reginald's lips to twitch in disgust. With a simple tilt of his head to acknowledge his captain, Reginald allowed Tyrian to flip the coin waiting for the outcome with an overwhelming sense of annoyance. Leaving things up to chance was never his forte and the captain's almost cavalier attitude towards it was more than a little aggravating.

Catching the coin and slamming it down on his wrist, Tyrian let out an overjoyed cackle as he tilted his hand for Reginald to see. "See that Reggie looks like we're doing this the fun way!" Tyrian exclaimed pocketing the coin as Reginald gently rubbed his temples.

"Yes sir, I see… However I must now insist that we work out some form of strategy to get passed the cannons, otherwise we're just throwing our men into a proverbial meat grinder" Reginald sighed recommencing his back and forth pacing from before.

"Don't worry, already thought of everything" Tyrian chuckled twirling his revolver around his finger while following the lanky man's back and forth pacing.

"Did you now?" Reginald asked sounding more than a little skeptical.

"I saw you had those rail turrets marked out on the map so we're just gonna drop the first wave right on top of each one" Tyrian chuckled at Reginald's arched eyebrow. "Now I know what you're thinking, that the first wave's gonna get slaughtered and you're right. So to avoid losing too many of our own boys I say we use some of the leftover captives we picked up from Atlas and Terrace, finally get some decent use from them" Tyrian concluded watching the lanky second in command take his idea into consideration.

"Using those captives would be even more unpredictable than our own men" Reginald stated, crossing his arms at all the variables running through his head.

"Nah it'll be fine, slap them with slave collars and tell them if they succeed they go free if they don't then they die, simple" Tyrian shrugged, sliding his revolver into the holster on his hip. Noticing the sceptical look on his second in command's face, Tyrian got up from his bed placing a hand on the taller man's shoulder and gave him the closest thing the bandit captain could to a reassuring smile. "Look it'll all work out, first wave moves in and takes out the turrets, letting the rest of our boys touch down and get the real party going. That way the guns are knocked out and we have fewer mouths to feed, remember last week you kept bitching at me that we were running low on food? Well problem solved" Tyrian grinned as his second in command let out a small sigh signalling his acceptance.

"Very well" Reginald stated typing this fresh list of orders into his datapad.

"It'll be great! You'll see" Tyrian cackled as he made his way across the room to his personal weapon's locker. Just as he came up to the pair of locked doors, Tyrian passed a quick glance back at the somewhat unnerving man still standing in the center of his personal quarters. "Something else you need Reggie?" Tyrian asked as he began to punch in the locker combination.

"Yes…" was the lanky man's immediate response as he strode up to stand beside the bandit captain. Reaching into his own pocket Reginald retrieved a small circular device no larger than the palm of his hand. "I found this attached to one of the wings of our gunships earlier today" Reginald informed holding the device so Tyrian could get a better look at it. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before and it seems to have been attached for quite a while, scans show its undergone re-entry several times" Reginald concluded noticing the blank stare his captain was giving him.

"So what does it do?" Tyrian asked picking up the device to give it a closer look.

"It seems to be releasing some kind of signal, similar to a homing beacon, but unlike any I've seen before" Reginald stated allowing Tyrian to take the device out of his hands for his own inspection. "Since no one else does any maintenance around here it took me quite some time to find this device, it could have been transmitting our location for a very long time" Reginald concluded giving the captain a pointed look.

Tyrian's face twisted into a sneer, with a surprising show of strength the bandit captain crushed the small device in his hand, letting the crushed device fall to the ground where it smashed into tiny pieces. "There, problem solved" Tyrian chuckled turning his attention back to his locker where he began pulling out his body armour.

Setting the last pieces of his armour on the ground Tyrian passed Reginald a quick glance and found he was still standing there, staring down at the smashed device with an unreadable expression on his face. _"See it's shit like this that weirds me the fuck out_ ," Tyrian thought before turning his attention back to the weapons arrayed before him.

Reaching inside the locker Tyrian began perusing his lineup of weaponry searching for the one he'd be taking with him in the coming battle. While the pistol at his waist was his favourite, it never hurt to come prepared. "What to choose, what to choose?" Tyrian hummed to himself paying the lanky man at beside him no mind. "Aha! Perfect" Tyrian exclaimed triumphantly pulling out a sawed off double barrel shotgun and a compact metallic rifle, one of the many weapons they raided from Nox. The rifle was some kind of experimental plasma caster. The bandit captain had immediately taken a liking to it after it vaporized one of his men that had been unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end. As for the shotgun… well Tyrian always did have a thing for the classics.

Dropping two shells into the shotgun, Tyrian turned to give his second in command a pointed glance. "Say Reggie I've been wondering, how the hell do you manage to get all the boring shit around here done on your own?" Tyrian asked snapping his shotgun back together with an audible clack of metal on metal.

"Well sir if I didn't take care of everything around here then nothing would ever get done" Reginald stated curtly placing both hands behind his back while Tyrian checked the sights on his plasma rifle. The tall man's statement only brought up another question for the bandit captain, one that he had asked plenty of times in the past.

Part of Tyrian knew Reggie would just blow off the question like he had every other time in the past but something pushed him to ask anyways, despite knowing the fruitlessness of the inquiry. "So tell me Reggie, why are you with us?" Tyrian asked not even bothering to look up at the man. "I mean we picked you up like a week after we knocked over that weapons facility over on Nox. Usually we got to shanghai our crew but with you, well you just came up and asked for a job" Tyrian chuckled at the odd memory of the lanky man approaching him in a dingy bar on Sullus.

Reginald was silent for several seconds, simply staring down the captain as he suited himself into his combat gear. "I have my reasons" Reginald replied through clenched teeth. The ship's second in command shrugged his shoulders hoping to pass off an air of nonchalance despite his growing annoyance with the captain's pestering.

The attempt didn't go by unnoticed as Tyrian burst out laughing at the look on his second in command's face. "Oh Reggie you're wound tighter than a spring!" Tyrian chuckled slipping on the last of his body armour. Walking up to the lanky man the captain gave him a quick pat on the shoulder flashing him a toothy smile. "You need to learn how to unwind a little pal" Tyrian chuckled, walking over to the prone form of the naked woman on the ground.

"Alright nap's over" Tyrian growled, delivering a swift kick to the woman's ribcage. The moment the blow landed the woman let out a barely audible groan rolling over and clutching her side where a sizeable bruise was already spreading, engulfing several others that were already present. "Go on back to the hold, you know the way" Tyrian barked reaching for the revolver at his waist when the woman didn't immediately follow his orders.

Watching the bandit captain's hand go down to his waist the woman let out a small squeak of affirmation before jumping to her feet. Taking her first step the woman had trouble keeping her balance on her heavily bruised leg, nearly stumbling as she tried to leave the room while still holding the blanket to cover what she could. Just as she seemed to find her rhythm the blanket covering what little modesty she had left was violently tugged out of grasp sending her sprawling into Reginald's arms who caught her just before she hit the ground. Tyrian's hoarse laughter echoed off the walls as the now completely naked woman blushed crimson as Reginald stared down at her with an unreadable expression.

"Alright enough sightseeing, piss off before I get mad" Tyrian commanded now holding his revolver out for the woman to see. Breaking away from the bandits' second in command, the woman dashed out of the room stumbling as she did and smacking her shoulder against the doorframe. Reginald followed her retreat as she scrambled out of the room with the same unreadable expression but Tyrian had no trouble seeing the tension in his jaw. " _Seriously, why are you with us if you hate it so much?"_ Tyrian wondered spinning his revolver back and forth idly.

"I'll be joining you on this raid" Reginald stated monotonously taking Tyrian completely off-guard. The out of nowhere declaration came as quite the shock to the bandit captain who had never seen his second in command so much as throw a punch let alone get into a full on firefight.

"As I live and breathe! You're actually gonna get your hands dirty for once?" Tyrian asked getting a small nod of confirmation from the bald man. "Well now I know you got an angle, Reggie" Tyrian chuckled paying no mind to the glare he received in return. Slipping his revolver into its holster and hooking his shotgun to his belt Tyrian gave his second in command a once over appraisal before doing one last check on his rifle. "Well if you're actually gonna be joining the fun this time around I suggest you get suited up, make sure to tell the boys the plan, I'm sure they'll love it" Tyrian grinned as Reginald spun on the balls of his feet. Without sparing a glance back Reginald strode out of the captain's quarters leaving Tyrian behind to run a hand through his already messy hair. "I got a good feeling about this one, it's gonna be a whole lotta fun."

* * *

"Keep your heads down dammit!" The harsh bark of Evan's CO. got his attention getting him to plunge to the ground with the rest of his squad just as return fire from the bandits tore into the building they had commandeered. The bullets penetrated the shoddy walls of the run down building kicking up dirt and debris, obscuring the squad's already hampered view of the enemy. It felt like they'd been fighting for hours against the bandits that were laying siege to Unko. Their initial defences had held quite well, but somewhere down the line the bandits pushed through and the Colonial Marines had found themselves on the retreat ever since.

"Hey Sarge! How the hell did these assholes even land? What happened to our AA guns?!" Brucie, the squad's resident tech expert's question could barely be heard over the cacophony of rifle fire being exchanged between their squad and the bandits' forces.

"Fuckers started ramming their ships into the cannons once they started getting shot down" Sergeant Reese shouted back. Taking a moment to spray a burst of pulse rifle fire into the darkened streets, the sergeant ducked down avoiding the return fire just as it shattered the window the CO was taking cover by.

"So they got all the air support they could ever need?" Evan snarled discharging a spent clip and fumbling for a fresh one. " _Tonight was actually going kinda well until this shit show started_ ," Evan thought bitterly. Taking a chance Evan hopped up from the cover of the pillar he was behind to fire off a burst of rifle fire only for an incoming round to slam into his shoulder. His shoulder's armour plating took the brunt of the damage but the force of the impact still sent the young corporal spinning to the ground.

"Dammit! Kowalski go check on him" Sergeant Reese barked providing a quick burst of covering fire.

"I'm fine, I'm fine armour took the hit!" Evan shouted back, getting back to his feet but wincing when he tried to move his arm. The Colonial Marines' armour provided an unprecedented amount of protection, especially against small arms fire but physics was still a bitch and you still felt a good chunk of the force of each bullet the armour would stop.

"Hey Sarge have the civvies been evaced yet?" Kowalski asked from his position along the north wall.

"Negative, those fucker's ships made airborne evac impossible, last orders I got said they're pulling everyone back into the mines" Sergeant Reese replied taking a moment to peak through the shattered window only to pull back as a fresh wave of bullets pelted his position.

"Seriously?! They'll be trapped like fucking rats down their!" Evan exclaimed hoisting his rifle into position as he poured another burst into the darkened streets. He watched with detached satisfaction as a figure cried out and hit the ground.

"I know, but it was either that or let them fend for themselves and Commander Erwin said fuck that!" Sergeant Reese replied harshly just as a bullet pierced through the wall he was leant up against. At the rate things were going the bandits were going to bring the entire building down around them with the cheer amount of bullets they were pouring into it.

 _*Chunk*_

 _*Chunk*_

 _*Chunk*_

 _*Chunk*_

 _*Chunk*_

"The hell was that?" Kowalski asked lowering his weapon uncertainly. A moment passed by in eerie silence as the private waited to see what would come next. Suddenly the entire northern wall was engulfed in a massive fire ball as a colossal explosion threatened to flatten the whole building. Evan and his squad, save for Kowalski who was caught in the explosion itself, were violently hurled back as dirt and debris pelted their sprawling bodies.

Ears ringing from the intense blast Evan slowly brought himself into a kneeling position before giving himself a quick check to ensure there was no lasting damage. After confirming he was in the clear Evan looked for the rest of his squad Kowalski was gone, disappeared in the initial explosion, Reese was busy picking himself off the ground, Ridley was slowly inching his way closer to the gigantic hole made in the northern wall and Brucie… was about two feet in front of him shouting in his face.

"What?!" Evan shouted back only now noticing his hearing hadn't fully returned yet.

"I said I've got a fucking piece of metal in me!" Brucie shouted pointing down to his abdomen where a lengthy piece of rebar had embedded itself in the tech specialist's lower ribcage.

"Shit, Kowalski had the medkit" Evan hissed moving forward to support Brucie as the tech specialist lost what little balance he had left. Looking around the ruined building Evan hoped to at least find a first aid kit somewhere but much to his disdain there didn't appear to be one anywhere nearby. Propping Brucie against an overturned office desk Evan turned to see Ridley leveling himself with the hole in the north wall, it was then that Evan noticed the eerie silence permeating the area that had been filled with gunfire, explosions and yelling just seconds prior.

"No fall back!" Evan shouted to Ridley just as the impulsive private stuck his head out of cover only to come face to face with the barrel of a sawed off shotgun. The retort of the shotgun was as deafening as the explosion and in an instant most of Private Ridley's face disappeared in a burst of buckshot. Before Ridley's body had even hit the ground a flashbang went sailing over his body and into the street. The resulting bang was quickly followed by the venomous curses of the bandits as they dealt with the temporary blindness of the non-lethal deterrent.

A harsh smack to the back broke Evan from his stunned state. Sergeant Reese was already at his side hoisting Brucie into his arms and pressing the injured tech specialist into Evan for him to take. "Get him outta here he's in no shape to keep this up!" Reese barked taking up a position behind the desk and ejecting a spent cartridge.

"What about you?" Evan questioned readjusting his stance to support Brucie's added weight.

"I'll cover you both while you head out the back" Reese growled tossing his last flashbang into the gap to a chorus of pained shouting. It wasn't very often Evan felt the urge to ignore orders but leaving his CO behind to certain death was one of those rare moments. Noticing the corporal's indecision Reese growled jerking his thumb to point at his knee. "Come on Spurrell get moving, I'm not going anywhere on this leg and you need to support Brucie." True to the sergeant's words his leg was in sorry shape, most of the armour had been stripped away and replaced with a myriad of wooden shards that stabbed into the sergeant at odd angles.

Still unsure of how to proceed, Evan was stirred from his doubt riddled thoughts by a loud groan from Brucie who was keeping his hand clamped over the chunk of rebar. Looking back to the sergeant who had once more trained his gaze on the massive hole in the wall, the young corporal began to slowly retreat. Keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead Sergeant Reese called back to the retreating pair one last time. "Head to the central mining complex!" Reese shouted while discharging his pulse rifle once more in controlled bursts.

Keeping Brucie's arm wrapped around his neck and holding his own pulse rifle tightly to his side Evan stumbled through the shattered remains of the office they had procured as cover. Shambling to the back of the building Evan was faced with an old rusty door, the flickering exit sign right above it telling the corporal all he needed to know. Putting as much force as he could into a kick he slammed his foot into the rusty metal door and to the marines' pleasant surprise it burst open on the first try.

Pressing forward and into the darkened back alleys Evan tried his best to shut out the sounds of the fire fight going on just behind them. The steady drone of Reese's M41A pulse rifle was almost completely drowned out by the more varied noise of the bandits' weapons. As the pair of injured marines made their way through the alleys the sounds of battle behind them continued on until a single retort from a shotgun cut into the night followed by a hollow silence as both marines realised they were on their own.

"Shit" Brucie hissed clutching his side as the weight of the situation crashed down on him.

"Yeah I know…" Evan muttered steering them both down a left path. He had a pretty good idea of where to go despite the labyrinthine layout of these back alleys, Raven had given him the basic run down of how to best navigate them. It was lessons that were currently proving to be invaluable.

"Get away from me!" A shrill cry caught the pair of marine's attention as they rounded yet another corner. The voice was echoing off the enclosed walls of the back alleys making pinpointing the exact location difficult. Despite this the pair of marines pressed on trying to locate the source of the commotion it sounded like a civilian was in trouble and Evan he couldn't help but think the voice sounded too much like Sera for his liking.

"Come on there girly don't try to fight it heh heh" a hoarse chuckle echoed off the walls giving Evan's legs a burst of speed as they zeroed in on their target.

 _*Click*_

"Ooh nice you have yourself a little knife, here let me show you mine" the voice growled, they were so close they just needed to move faster. The sounds of struggling filled the twisting passages of the back alleys of the Unko slums until it was filled by the gut wrenching sound of metal piercing flesh.

Turning around another corner the pair of marines came face to face with what had once been the struggling pair. Now it was just a lone bandit wrenching his large buck knife from the still form of a woman on the ground. Before the bandit could even turn his head of shaggy hair around to face the new arrivals, Evan leveled his weapon on the assailant and let loose a quick burst from his hip. A few of the shots went wide but three in particular found their mark embedding into the man's gut, chest and finally one through his eye. The bandit fell like a sack of bricks just as the pair finally made it to the woman on the ground.

Looking down at the woman Evan felt a disgusting sense of relief when he realise that it wasn't Sera. The woman had been stabbed right through the heart by the bandit, she was probably dead before she hit the ground. It was a horrible way to go but at least the crimson haired dancer had been spared that fate, wherever she was right now.

"Come on man let's get out of here" Brucie gasped from beside him, still clutching his wound tightly trying to stem the flow of blood. His squad mate's words were enough to break Evan from his thoughts and the young corporal gave the injured tech specialist a curt nod before continuing on their way. After several minutes of tense silence the pair of marines could just pick up on the sounds of people approaching from behind. Not taking any chances Evan pulled Brucie down into an adjacent alley it was as dingy as the rest but featured a small bend in its shape giving the pair of injured soldiers some much needed cover.

Setting Brucie down as gently as he was able to, Evan pulled his pulse rifle up to his shoulder doing a quick ammo check while he waited for the approaching group. " _Just one clip left and only two grenades for the launcher… great_." Those wouldn't last him very long in an extended fight so he kept low and quiet hoping the group would pass them by unnoticed. The sounds of the approaching footsteps and voices only grew louder and Evan could feel the grip on his rifle tense as he began to make out what the people were saying.

"Alright enough of this, we're never gonna find them soldier boys running around these alleys randomly" one of the bandit's barked bringing the rest of his group to a halt right outside the entrance to Evan and Brucie's alley.

"Agreed sir, I suggest we refocus our efforts on the central mining complex, it seems most of the remaining citizens and marines are holding themselves up there" this second voice was rather unexpected for the weary marine to hear. It sounded cultured, articulate and somewhat bored which was a polar contrast to that of his fellow raiders.

"Well then if they want to hide like rats then I guess we'll just have to-" the first man's harsh command was suddenly cut off by a shrill beeping coming from the his communicator. After a second of fumbling the sound of a communicator coming to life filled the filthy alleyway. "It's Tyrian, what do you want we're busy!" The man called Tyrian growled into the communicator.

The garbled and static riddled reply was impossible for Evan to make out but judging by the derisive snort from the bandit it couldn't have been anything good. "Look idiot either you're reading those instruments wrong or you're not using your damn eyes. So now tell me, are you sure it says a hyperspace breach was picked up?" Tyrian asked with barely concealed venom. After another long bout of garbled communicator chatter, Tyrian burst into a harsh laugh that sent a chill up the hidden corporal's spine. "Well then that means something dropped out of hyperspace now go find it before I come up there and throw you out an airlock to go look for it the old fashioned way!" Tyrian barked earning a series of chuckles from some of his subordinates around him.

Taking a chance, Evan peaked his head around the corner of his hiding spot to get a better view of the bandits who were standing only a few short feet away. The entire group was busy looking straight up and Evan couldn't help but mimic their actions to see what it was that had caught their attention. Glancing up Evan's eyes widened in shock, though it was somewhat hard to see at this range it was unmistakably a USS warship. The USS-Cubic was a hulking craft made for laying siege to even the most heavily fortified planetary outposts and going shot for shot with the hardiest of battle cruisers. It was also sitting at such a low altitude, relatively speaking, that there was little doubt that it could have easily turned the surface of Charth into an even bleaker crater riddled dirt ball. That only left the question of why hadn't they? The raiders clearly had the edge in firepower and strategic positioning, but they instead opted to go for a full scale ground assault, strategically it made little sense.

Evan's thoughts were abruptly cut off by a brilliant flash of intense light that nearly blinded the weary corporal. Shielding his eyes with his free hand Evan watched as the back portion of the Cubic disappeared in a brilliant explosion. Even from this distance Evan could see pretty plainly that the Cubic just lost its engines and with one shot no less. _"What the hell has that kind of firepower?"_ Evan wondered in awe. While the ship was most likely locked into a synchronous orbit around Charth meaning it wouldn't crash, without engines it wasn't going anywhere either.

"What the fuck was that!?" The burly man with dishevelled hair shouted aloud. Glancing at the man Evan determined to be Tyrian, the weary soldier leveled his pulse rifle at the man standing at the center of the group with a small smirk. Pulling back on the underslung grenade launcher Evan felt the familiar kick of the ordinance leaving the barrel. Evan's confident smirk quickly turned to one of utter disbelief at what followed however.

Moving faster than anyone should have been capable of doing the lanky bald man standing at Tyrian's side lashed out with his foot kicking Tyrian away from the group and drawing out the pistol at his waist just as the grenade ejected from Evan's launcher. Tyrian landed away from the group just as the grenade impacted against the wall blasting one of the bandits into the air and throwing off the lanky man's aim who had already discharged three rounds at Evan.

Stumbling backwards Evan felt one of the strange looking man's rounds graze his cheek opening a small cut along it while the rest impacted against the wall behind him. It was a good thing he had fired that grenade, it had thrown off the man's aim just enough to keep him from putting a bullet in between Evan's eyes. Scrambling to his feet Evan rushed over to Brucie quickly scooping the injured tech specialist into his arms as the sounds of the approaching bandits could be heard just a few short feet behind them.

Shambling down the alley as fast their tired legs would allow them, Evan and Brucie tried to make as much distance from themselves and the bandits as possible, but it was to no avail as the first bandit rounded the corner of the alley they were running down. Bullets and energy projectiles flew past the pair's heads and Evan felt one round smack against the armour on his back. Just like before the armour absorbed the damage but it still hurt like a son of a bitch! "Hold on Brucie" Evan growled. Spinning around with all the grace one would expect from a duo competing in a three legged race, Evan unloaded his pulse rifle down the alleyway at full auto. The drone of the pulse rifle as it spat bullets down the narrow space was like music to the marines' ears and they watched with a sense of detached satisfaction as two of the bandits went down in a hail of military grade arms fire.

The rest of the bandits had now taken cover and were relatively safe from the storm of bullets heading their way but that didn't stop Evan from firing. He could practically hear his old drill sergeant yelling at him from back in his early days of training.

 _"What the fuck do you think you're doing shitstain!? What, do you think you're some kind of action movie star firing from the hip like that!? Well guess what, that's not how it works in real life, you want something dead you line up your shot, you calculate the variables and you fire in a controlled burst not unload an entire magazine like it's going out of style! Do you understand what I'm saying Spurrel or do you need a ten kilometer run to let it sink in!?"_

While every part of his military training was screaming at him to preserve what little ammunition he had left, Evan realised that if he didn't keep up this suppressive fire then he and Brucie were as good as dead. Glancing down at the ammo counter on the side Evan watched as the red number quickly approached zero, he needed something else something to buy them time. Looking around at the deserted alley he found nothing of note, the place was barren save for dirt, trash and the occasional… manhole cover… Evan's face broke into another small grin as yet another on the fly plan pieced itself together in his head.

Tilting his rifle downwards Evan fired his final grenade directly at the iron casing. With a resounding blast, Evan watched with glee as the manhole cover and much of the ground around it broke apart crumbling away into a deep chasm that seemed to span the entire width of the alleyway. It was no secret that much of the infrastructure of Unko was hastily constructed and in poor condition. Chief among those were the sewage systems which were already prone to failure and frequent sinkholes opening up and cutting off entire streets.

As the gaping chasm grew wider and wider cutting off any hopes for the raiders to continue their chase, Evan ducked down another side alley pulling Brucie along. They were by no means safe but at the very least that group wouldn't be pursuing them for a while. Now all they had to do was focus on getting back to the mining complex and regrouping with the rest of their forces. As the exhausted pair trundled down the twisting labyrinth of Unko's slums Evan's thoughts went back to that explosion that seemed to knock out the Cubic's engines. Maybe they just got lucky and a meteor took out their engines, but no that bandit, Tyrian, had mentioned there being a hyperspace breach, maybe their luck was changing and back up had finally arrived.

* * *

As Hanta gazed out of the cockpit of his personal ship he could feel a rare sense of growing unease settling upon him. It may have been only a few hours ago but the tracker he had slipped onto the bandit's ship back on Nox finally stopped transmitting after months of uninterrupted clarity. By no means did that mean the trail was cold, far from it, the seasoned hunter had specifically adjusted the sensors of his ship to track the ion signatures of the bandit's warship. As long as they used that vessel he would forever be able to track them but the sudden disappearance of the beacon meant one of two things, either the ship it was on had been destroyed, or they had managed to find it and knew they were being tracked.

Hanta had little time to ponder on the possibility however as the console in front of him let out a shrill beep signalling they had arrived and were about to drop out of hyperspace. Bracing himself in his seat the proud Yautja closed his eyes just as his ship dropped out of faster than light speed and felt the familiar surge of nausea at the deceleration his ship underwent. Many of his brethren claimed they felt nothing dropping out of hyperspace and that their ships were designed to stave off such effects but Hanta still felt the familiar sense of queasiness that he had dealt with since he was but a pup.

Shaking off the unpleasant sensations Hanta glared out of the viewport once more and for the first time in months the stoic hunter felt his spirits soar. Floating in a synchronous orbit around a rather barren looking planet was the bandit's warship. Getting a good look at the ship for the first time since his hunt began was surprisingly satisfying. It appeared to be one of the warships that the human's colonial government utilized and was heavily armed for war.

Punching in the appropriate commands into his ship's interface Hanta watched as his ship unleashed three precision plasma bursts. The first blast compromised the humans' shielding bringing the pale blue covering down. The second burst impacted against their communicator relay obliterating the command antenna in a shower of sparks and debris. Cutting off his prey's ability to call for help was simply the most intelligent course of action.

It was the third burst however that had Hanta's undivided attention. Watching with a detached sense of pleasure as the condensed plasma slammed into the warship's powerful engines. For a moment it looked as if the damage had been minimal, that is until the massive cylindrical propulsion systems began to implode upon themselves. Slowly the entire rear half of the warship began to crumple inwards until a blindingly golden light shone through the cracks spreading throughout the hull. While muffled by the vacuum of space the resulting explosion was enough to violently shake Hanta's much smaller ship nearly throwing it off course and sending the proud hunter stumbling inside his cockpit reaching out for a handhold.

Steadying himself against the back of his chair Hanta gazed out at his handiwork and let out a few self-approving clicks. The rear quarter of what had once been the USS-Cubic was in tatters, the colossal detonation of the ship's engines had now left the entire structure, as the humans would say, dead in the water.

" _They cannot run away, they cannot cry for help, they can only stand and fight and face their destiny as it should be"_ Hanta's low growl was laced with malice towards the planet hopping raiders, they had avoided the justice they so sorely deserved and today they would finally be subjected to that reckoning. Turning his attention back to his ship's interface he began scanning the entire star system as well as the now derelict warship for signs of life, he highly doubted the entire group were onboard and he didn't want to miss a single one of them.

 _"Just as expected, only a dozen of the vermin on the ship and… wait, what do we have here?"_ Hanta thought taking a closer look at the data being streamed to his bio-mask. There was an incredibly large number of heat signatures located in a section near the bottom of the ship. Zooming in on the area Hanta felt his mandibles grind together in growing anger as the realisation set in. _"Of course these vermin would take slaves and prisoners"_ Hanta thought bitterly, he had originally planned to simply obliterate the human warship with his own superior firepower, but that would also seal the fates of the prisoners in the process.

Hanta remained silent, switching to the scans of the planet he felt his mandibles twitch once more as fresh information streamed to his bio-mask. The entire planet was a lifeless rock however there appeared to be a single very large settlement situated on the otherwise barren world. The seasoned hunter didn't need to look into the scans for long to see the entire colony was embroiled in a vicious war. Weighing his options Hanta input a few more commands into his ship's interface before turning to leave the cockpit feeling the ship jolt as its built in autopilot took over.

Marching to his personal quarters Hanta let out a long sigh, the colonists fighting for their home were in greater need at the moment than those aboard the bandit's ship. By no means was this an easy choice, seeing the handiwork of the raiders countless times over Hanta knew of the depravities they were capable of. He also had a fairly good idea of what kind of prisoners they were keeping aboard that ship and the thought of leaving those people to their captors for even another moment was repugnant. But the ship wasn't going anywhere and the people on the planet's surface were fighting and dying as he stood before his personal armory.

 _"I will deal with the filth on the planet and then board their ship to deal with the rest"_ Hanta thought calmly as he looked over his considerable arsenal he had accumulated over his extensive life. Glancing at his heavy body armour the proud Yautja let out a small snort before turning his attention back to his weaponry. He had never been a huge fan of the heavier armour variants and agility was by far the more essential necessity at the moment.

Reaching outwards Hanta grasped a pair of gauntlets, each one containing a pair of wrist blades that he ejected and retracted a few times as a quick test. _"As sharp as ever, excellent, they will make quick work of even the hardiest of the vermin's' armour"_ Hanta thought approvingly. Next came the shoulder mounted plasma caster, a staple for any Yautja worth their salt. The battle worn weapon snapped into position on Hanta's left shoulder pauldron with a familiar click.

Now that the necessities had been procured it was time for the seasoned hunter to choose his remaining weaponry. First were his pair of shurikens, the two circular objects fit snuggly into the palm of the towering hunter's hand until he extended them with a flick of his wrist. Six curved blades extended from the seemingly harmless device with a satisfying _*snikt*_ before he returned them to their idle positions and attached them to either hip. Next, Hanta chose to attach his wrist mounted dart launcher to the underside of his right gauntlet. It was a weapon that the hunter admittedly got very little use out of but in this scenario it could prove to be invaluable. _"The humans have turned this planet into a mining facility, if I have to enter one of those accursed tunnels then this will allow me some range without the risk of a cave in or explosion."_ Hanta's thoughts were brought back to the fateful day of his blooding, when one of his more trigger happy brethren nearly brought the entire temple down on their heads with his plasma fire.

Shaking his dreadlocked head Hanta reached out for his last and most precious weapon, one passed down for generations and one he would be giving his own daughter when she was old enough. Despite its age, his family's ancestral glaive still looked as if it had just been forged. The two handed polearm ended in twin flat blades that faced in opposite directions and bore a serrated edge that could still pass through prey like water. Adorning the handle were the names of all those who wielded the mighty weapon stretching back for generations. Hanta let out a series of soft clicks with his mandibles as he stared at his own father's name inscribed into the hilt and the space immediately adjacent to it where he would one day etch his own name before passing the weapon onto his daughter.

A soft rattle suddenly shook the ship breaking the hunter from his melancholic reminiscing. His ship had just broken through the atmosphere and so they were fast approaching the colony where the bandits were still entrenched in their bloody siege with the Colonial Marines. Fixing the glaive into its placeholder on his back Hanta let out a small grunt and began walking towards his ship's exit hatch. Hanta had set the ship to a slow decent despite his intense desire to bring these bandits to justice, time may have been of the essences but that did not excuse a sloppy entry.

As the ship began to slow Hanta performed one last gear check to ensure everything was in place. His weapons were all accounted for, his ceremonial dagger was nestled in its sheath along his calf as it always was. His meta-comb was affixed to the small of his back for easy use should he need it and the small pouch where he kept his miscellaneous equipment was still in place along his waist. Performing one last check of his bio-mask by cycling through all the various viewing spectrums Hanta let out a content growl as the doors slowly opened revealing the war-torn colony before him.

His ship came to hover just over a tall building that overlooked much of the colony giving Hanta a much needed vantage point of the various battles raging around the colony. Everywhere he looked Hanta saw the same thing. Bandit's running to and fro slaughtering civilians like sheep while what few Colonial Marines that remained fought back as if possessed, doing their best to drive back the swarming bandit's and evacuating the few citizens that they could.

Looking down at the desperate marines Hanta felt a rush of admiration for those fighting so valiantly against an impossible force. _"Such tenacity… For this day we are brothers in arms against our common foe"_ Hanta thought before extending his wrist blades into the air. Letting loose a deafening roar that could be heard in every corner of the burning colony, Hanta dropped from his ship, landing on the roof of the building with a tremendous crash. Racing forward Hanta leapt off the edge of the building driving his wrist blades into the side to slow his descent. As the familiar tingle of his active-camouflage masked his presence Hanta let out a savage chuckle at what was coming next.

 _"Ready yourselves vermin, for your reckoning comes today!"_

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** **Hello everyone and we are back with chapter 2 and boy howdy what a chapter it is, not too often I write a chapter almost 15k words long but this one just kept writing itself. I will admit a lot of this chapter was setup for both setting and characters. As it stands we now have our main characters of this story established, Hanta, Sera, Raven, Evan, Tyrian and the mysterious Reginald. And as it stands win or lose this battle with Tyrian's bandits will end on planet Charth.**

 **So as I said much of the chapter was character building and setting the stage for the coming battle while still giving you a taste of some of the fighting. Next chapter we will be focusing primarily on Hanta as he turns the bandit's inside out as well as checking up on our other characters as everything comes to a head.**

 **One of the main things I did want to focus on was the differences between the characters. For making a story where a Yautja is the good guy I had to absolutely write villains who are the worst of the worst and I can only hope I was able to get that point across without making them sound to cliché. Another thing I enjoyed writing was the contrasting views on family using Sera and Hanta. While Sera comes from a broken family that she had to run away from Hanta literally carries his families pride with him in his glaive that had been passed down from parent to child and that he can't wait to see his own daughter one day use.**

 **There's a few small references scattered about here and there that I decided to add in. Tyrians revolver is the same make as the one most commonly used by Jesse James and though it's pretty obvious he does have a thing for Two-Face from Batman. Also the song Sera's listening to before she falls asleep is Fall to Rise by Broach a song I just recently came across and I got to say absolutely love it.**

 **So that's all for now, next chapter gonna be some prime predator action and I'm looking forward to writing that bloodbath. As always if you got questions or want to talk feel free to ask I'm always willing to give, spoiler free, info out.**

 **Until next time everyone!**


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